Chapter 507: Side Story 7

Chapter side_7

The road to Gansu was long and arduous.

Aside from the basic distance being considerable, he wasn’t going alone; he had to look after Dan Woo-hyun, Sa Do-hak, and Namgung Cheon as they moved, which made their progress inevitably slower.

Jang Sam-tae had to hunt every day to prepare their meals or find places to sleep, ensuring that they experienced as little discomfort as possible.

“If it was going to be like this, I should have just stayed at the manor, damn it!”

Carrying the hunted deer on his back and walking along the mountain path, Jang Sam-tae had a lot of complaints. He had left the manor because he didn’t want to look after those three, yet the exact same situation was unfolding again, making him feel incredibly frustrated.

Did that mean he could run away?

It was impossible.

Running away was something that required the skill to do so.

Although where he was currently standing was quite a distance away from Dan Woo-hyun, the moment he threw his body to escape, they would suddenly be right in front of him.

The difference in skill was just that great.

Ultimately, he was in the palm of the Buddha’s hand.

Lamenting his situation, Jang Sam-tae returned to the spot where they were camping out.

Having laid out their sleeping spots leisurely and finished preparing for bed, the three men were sipping their drinks while looking at the campfire.

Instead of offering him a drink, they directed their gazes at him, asking for side dishes, which was so annoying that he felt like pinching and stretching their cheeks.

“What kind of vacation is this?”

“You aren’t cleaning the manor, so it’s a vacation.”

At Dan Woo-hyun’s words, Jang Sam-tae became as mute as someone who had eaten honey.

Not cleaning that place meant it was a vacation?

It made absolutely no sense, yet he found himself nodding implicitly.

That made him even angrier, causing him to frown without realizing it. He was furious at himself for not being able to refute it when he clearly should have.

“Don’t think of it so badly. After all, isn’t a sightseeing trip best enjoyed together? This old man also wants to see your younger sister.”

Namgung Cheon chuckled and patted Jang Sam-tae’s shoulder.

However, it definitely wasn’t a misunderstanding that none of his words registered in his ears. Despite speaking softly, the person who worked Jang Sam-tae the hardest was none other than Namgung Cheon.

How was he a righteous swordsman and the leader of the Orthodox Faction?

To Jang Sam-tae, he was nothing more than a slippery old man.

“Goodness gracious, really… Why on earth are you following me? If you just leave me be, I’ll eventually crawl back on my own…”

“Haha, didn’t I say? A sightseeing trip is…”

“This isn’t a sightseeing trip, you know?”

Jang Sam-tae glanced at Dan Woo-hyun.

The existence with the greatest decision-making power among them. In all likelihood, this entire situation had sprung from Dan Woo-hyun’s head.

Having absolutely no doubt about that, he only felt an unprovoked sense of resentment.

“Think of it simply.”

“What do you mean?”

As Jang Sam-tae frowned, Dan Woo-hyun finally opened his mouth. Nonchalantly starting to dress the deer he had brought, he cut off a piece of meat and started roasting it over the fire.

That series of actions happened in a flash.

To the point where one would wonder if Jang Sam-tae was even needed in the first place.

“Everything is training.”

“I don’t need it!”

At Dan Woo-hyun’s words, Jang Sam-tae abruptly stood up from his seat.

Training, my ass.

He felt like if he did that a few more times, his body wouldn’t last. With his anger already rising to the top of his head, Jang Sam-tae spat on the ground and shot a sharp glare at the three men.

“Never, ever! Never! Do not follow me! I, Jang Sam-tae, will go alone!”

Having shouted at them, Jang Sam-tae finally started running as fast as he could. He looked as if he was fleeing, but he disappeared from sight so quickly that it seemed impossible to chase him even if one wanted to.

The three men chuckled.

There was even a sense of leisure on their faces.

Did he truly not know that no matter where or how he went, he was still inside the Buddha’s palm?

Sa Do-hak quietly stood up.

Just as he brushed the dust off his clothes and was about to use his lightness art to catch the escapee.

“Stop.”

“Huh? Are we not catching him?”

Dan Woo-hyun suddenly stopped him and nodded.

Sa Do-hak looked at Dan Woo-hyun with a strange expression. In truth, they were also very curious about Jang Sam-tae’s hometown, and they also wanted to pour a cup of liquor at his younger sister’s grave.

Because they wanted to go together, he thought they had to catch him when he ran away.

However, Dan Woo-hyun was quite relaxed, as if he were enjoying all of this.

“The wind is nice.”

“What are you talking about?”

Sa Do-hak made a dumbfounded expression. He couldn’t quite understand Dan Woo-hyun’s words.

But Dan Woo-hyun didn’t say anything more, simply staring fixedly at the roasting meat over the fire with a strange smile.

***

Jang Sam-tae ran like crazy.

He ran so fast he didn’t even know where he was going. Anxious that the three men might be chasing him again, he constantly looked back over his shoulder, but when he felt no presence, he gradually slowed down with a strange expression.

“Are they really not chasing me?”

Unable to believe this situation, Jang Sam-tae swallowed hard. It was completely impossible for those people, of all people, to give up.

He stopped right there and spent about a quarter of an hour waiting.

Not seeing any signs or presence of those who should have caught up long ago if they had decided to follow him, Jang Sam-tae was nervous, yet a smile slowly formed on his lips.

“Ahahaha-! You guys gave up in the end, didn’t you!”

If I knew this would happen, I should have done this sooner! He felt belated regret. If he had, wouldn’t he have been able to avoid all that suffering?

The thought crossed his mind that perhaps Dan Woo-hyun had some ulterior motive, but even if he thought about it, Jang Sam-tae’s brain was incapable of understanding Dan Woo-hyun in the first place.

Having smiled for quite a while, Jang Sam-tae looked around with suspicious eyes.

It was because he thought they might suddenly appear from somewhere. However, he still couldn’t feel any presence, and there were no signs of them showing up to mock him.

‘What a stroke of luck.’

Making up his mind, Jang Sam-tae immediately threw his body forward.

He didn’t know exactly where he was, but he moved blindly along the path.

He had definitely taken the road up from Hunan to Chongqing, so if he kept moving north, Chongqing or Hubei would eventually appear.

There would be towns too, so he could just relax and enjoy himself then.

Grinning at that thought, he ran for a long time.

He couldn’t even tell how long he had run. Around the time the pitch-black night sky was slowly dawning, a large town appeared before Jang Sam-tae’s eyes.

“This is…?”

It seemed without a doubt to be Wuhan, the provincial capital of Hubei. Unlike his intention to move towards Chongqing, it appeared he had moved towards Hubei.

Since Jang Sam-tae hadn’t taken the main road and had crossed over mountains moving as fast as possible, it wouldn’t be strange for any town to appear anywhere at any time.

The moment he confirmed exactly where he was, Jang Sam-tae could readjust his destination. While his basic goal was still to head to Gansu, he wanted to enjoy various fun things along the way, so he planned to play as much as possible while moving.

First of all…

‘The red-light district!’

Jang Sam-tae tightly clenched his fists.

Mae-hyang was definitely beautiful.

Although her looks were certainly more than enough for a man like Jang Sam-tae’s wife, wouldn’t any man naturally dream of deviating at least once?

Furthermore, thanks to the manor work, he hadn’t been able to play or drink properly, so he rationalized that he should play and drink to his heart’s content and enjoy his freedom this time around.

To do so, hadn’t he robbed the Hao Clan and saved up money little by little?

“All for this day…?”

Touching the money pouch in his inner pocket, Jang Sam-tae was about to cheer. However, since he couldn’t feel anything inside, he checked his pocket with a bizarre expression.

“Huh?”

It wasn’t there.

No matter how much he felt around, he couldn’t grasp the money pouch. It was a pouch he had hidden without anyone knowing. Who could possibly guess how much effort he had put into saving up that money.

His face was dyed in astonishment.

“Where did it go? Why isn’t it here?!”

He frantically searched all over his body, desperately trying to find the money pouch, but it was useless.

In the end, there were only two possibilities.

It had either fallen out while he was moving, or someone had stolen it.

Reaching that point in his thoughts, Jang Sam-tae suddenly realized something and shouted.

“Dan Woo-hyun! You son of a bitch-!”

Ringing loudly-!

His voice endlessly echoed outwards.

***

“My ears are itchy.”

Moving slowly, Dan Woo-hyun stroked the money pouch in his hand. Judging by how heavy it was, it seemed to contain over several tens of taels in silver alone, and with bank notes also inside, it could be considered a fairly large sum of money.

Seeing that, Namgung Cheon made a puzzled expression.

Because it didn’t look like Dan Woo-hyun’s money pouch.

The pouch was quite old and gave off the impression that it had been difficult to obtain, or hastily made by patching up scraps of cloth.

No matter how he looked at it again, it didn’t suit Dan Woo-hyun.

“Where did you get that?”

“I picked it up.”

“…You picked it up?”

Sa Do-hak looked at Dan Woo-hyun with an absurd expression.

Judging by its outer appearance alone, it definitely wouldn’t be strange if he had picked it up. However, considering the amount inside, one had to wonder if he hadn’t snatched away what someone had carefully saved.

“It must obviously be that brat Sam-tae’s.”

“Hah… Does that mean he is penniless right now?”

“…”

The two men glanced at Dan Woo-hyun.

Dumbfounded expressions were evident on their faces.

It seemed they hadn’t even imagined that Dan Woo-hyun, of all people, would go this far.

However, stroking the jingling money pouch, Dan Woo-hyun was smiling with a satisfied expression.

“This is all training.”

“Crazy bastard.”

Sa Do-hak swallowed a breath of vain air and shook his head side to side. Didn’t it seem like he was using training as an excuse to enjoy tormenting Jang Sam-tae?

“Hah… This time it was a bit too far, Family Head…”

“It’s fine. He isn’t the type to die easily anywhere. More importantly, how much further do we have to go?”

Dan Woo-hyun looked around.

Only mountains could be seen, to the point where the phrase ‘mountains upon mountains’ would be fitting. Since they had intended to move over the mountains from the start, they had gone so deep that nothing else was visible.

“Once we cross that peak over there, it’s the road to Hubei… and if we cross the peak next to it, we’ll head into Chongqing.”

“I see…”

Dan Woo-hyun looked at the two mountains Namgung Cheon pointed out.

Should they go to Hubei, or Chongqing?

Either way seemed interesting, but shifting his gaze subtly, Dan Woo-hyun looked to the right.

The wind blowing from Hubei felt a bit softer.

Furthermore, he could smell Jang Sam-tae from there.

“It seems Sam-tae is in Hubei. I can smell him.”

“Are you a dog? Huh?”

Sa Do-hak frowned and glared at Dan Woo-hyun.

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